View attachment 2941
"Then I guess this is goodbye..."
View attachment 2942
"But hopefully not forever! I'll be back when I can to help take down Error! Just you wait!"
Mason stepped fully through his portal had returned home. The portal closed behind him, leaving the skeletons with only their memories of Mason.
MASON'S EPILOGUE
New Game +Plus
Mason arrived in a world blanketed by a star-filled night sky. Around him were fields of grass and a ring of trees that surrounded a building in the center. This building appeared to be infinite, stretching far above the cover of clouds. It was spotted with many windows, most of which remained dark. However, a few held light within their rooms, and the shapes of some figures cast shadows on the windowpane.
This building is what Mason knew as the Embassy. The Embassy of the Gods.
"Good, they're home. THENA! MARI! I'M BACK FROM ADVENTURE!" Mason cried out into the cold night air. One of the figures in a lit room darted away from the window. In only seconds later, the figure arrived on the first floor and opened the door.
The light from within the Embassy illuminated the figure from behind, but its light wasn't necessary. The figure was constantly illuminated by a green, godlike aura. She was a woman, looking to be in her late twenties, and clothed in green robes, similar in style to those worn by the women of ancient Greece. Gold ringlets adorned her outfit wherever they could: pinning her dress, wrapping her wrists, her ankles, her neck, and most extravagantly as a golden laurel wreath atop her head. Dark brown hair framed her face, and two hazel eyes locked onto Mason with both worry and relief. The woman rushed up to Mason and embraced him with a tight hug.
She spoke,
"Mason Moretti, where in Gaia's name have you been? I've been worried sick for weeks!"
"Relax, Athena. I'm fine. I just got a little off track, that's all. You really couldn't watch me?"
"I had no idea where you had gone," Athena replied, her worry beginning to fade,
"Wherever you went, it was a place beyond my power to influence. What all happened?"
"It's a long story. I'd like to get something to eat first, though, if I can. I'm sure you're excited to hear about a world you never knew about! A whole set of worlds! I made a bunch of new friends."
"Really, now. Like who?" Athena asked.
"Well, there's Sans, Inky, Edgy, Blueberry, Glitchy, Monster Kid, and Macy."
Athena's expression instantly grew sour. She pulled away from the hug and glared daggers at Mason.
"Who's Macy?"
"Well, apparently there's a spirit inside the necklace beside Oracle, and-"
Athena raised her hand. Her aura glowed brighter and she placed her hand on Mason's forehead.
"Mason, go to sleep," she commanded in a stern voice. Mason quickly trailed off the end of his sentence and collapsed onto the ground. Athena picked up his unconscious body and carried it inside the Embassy.
"Oracle, what happened in that adventure?"
The fairy appeared from Mason's necklace and started making random static-filled sounds.
"Never mind. Go ahead and plug yourself into the computer room and start a debug process. I'll be there soon."
Oracle dashed on ahead of Athena as the goddess stopped by one of the many rooms in the Embassy. Inside, an entire wall was dedicated to housing video game consoles of various types and a television to play them on. Around the plush carpeted room were equally various seating, from beanbags to gamer chairs. Atop one of the beanbags sat another occupant of the Embassy, with a
Playstation Laststion controller in her hands.
The gamer girl had a similar constant aura to Athena, yet hers glowed a fiery red. Her hair matched, styled in a pixie cut that draped over the right side of her face. She wore little more than a tank top and a skirt, and for jewelry had only a pair of small golden hoops adorning her ears. Currently, these ears were covered by a pair of large headphones and her silver eyes were locked on the screen in front of her.
Athena entered the room and sat Mason down on the couch in the back of the room. Then, trying to grab the gamer's attention, cleared her throught and said,
"Hestia."
The girl did not respond. Athena tried again, louder,
"Hestia. HESTIA."
After the third attempt, Athena sighed and tried,
"Mari. Please."
The gamer girl removed her headphones and paused her game.
"What is it, sis?"
"You need to act more like a goddess."
"And you need to remember you're in a human host that has wants and needs."
"And you need to stop letting your host in control."
"Is there something you came in here for? Besides nagging me?"
"Please watch Mason. I need to go through his memories. And stop playing those anime fanservice games. You're better than that."
"Always and never," Mari replied before returning to her game.
Athena, unburdened by Mason, made a much swifter ascent up the building and beyond the clouds. In one of the Embassy's highest floors was a room filled with computers. Various monitors presented views of multiple universes. In a way, the Computer Room was the hub of the multiverse, although it only held a small portion of a nearly infinite multiverse in its sights.
One one of the screens, an image of Oracle was displayed, bouncing back and forth. The image spoke, in a very stiff, robotic voice,
"Restoring... Restoring... Restoration complete! Memory uploaded. Good evening, Athena! What would you like to do today?"
"Open memory files, past twenty-four hours."
"Sure thing." A progress bar appeared on the screen, labeled "opening memories," and began to fill.
"Mason met Macy again."
"I know, Oracle."
"You can't just keep erasing his memories like this. He's going to find out about her for good eventually."
"I know, Oracle."
"You really need to start working on things besides Mason. He might not even be an appropriate vessel for Macy. Plus, your fellow gods's vessels are growing old. They'll be needing new vessels soon."
"I know, you stupid AI! Can't you tell me something new?"
"Processing request... New info: Mason did it."
"He what?"
Oracle's voice became more natural.
"He became a hero. He finished a Hero's Journey and saved the day. He very easily could have become a vessel, for Macy or for one of the other gods and goddesses. He was almost done... Then he reset everything."
"Dear Gaia, why..."
"Because he couldn't save everyone. He didn't consider himself a hero. Mason has a heart of gold, and some day he'll complete a Hero's Journey for real. It won't happen with the way you treat him. Mason might only become a proper host when he's already out of your reach."
Athena fell silent. Only the whirring of computer fans kept silence from filling the room.
"How long until I get my daughter back?" Athena asks. Her goddess aura dimmed and tears rolled down her cheeks.
"Aurora..."
"Athena," she corrected,
"I'm a goddess and I don't need to be crying over a dumb human. Erase all instantces of Macy Moretti from Mason's memories in the past twenty-four hours."
"Erasure complete," Oracle said after a moment, again in her robotic demeanor,
"Error... Mason not found. Unable to restore memories."
Mari bursted through the door, panting and out of breath, struggling to say the words,
"I lost Mason."
"What do you mean you lost Mason?"
"I mean I turned around... and Mason wasn't there. No portal... no nothing. I don't know if he learned Instant Transmission or what... but he's gone."
"Why didn't you just Instant Transmission up here? Or maybe open a portal? That's a hundred flights of stairs you ran up."
"Shut up... I needed... the exercise..."
Meanwhile, a notification appeared in a black box at the bottom right corner of one of the monitors. It read:
Mason Moretti
is now playing
Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 1
To be continued in...
Megatagmension Mason + Neptune